Chael Sonnen still taking shots at Wanderlei Silva

Though nothing has been officially announced, it seems to be a fairly safe bet a bout between Chael Sonnen–Wanderlei Silva will wind up on the eventual lineup for UFC on FOX Sports 1. The rumble has been rumored for weeks with both Sonnen and Silva exchanging shots at one another through various media outlets.

The latest occurrence of trash-talk came over the weekend while Sonnen was serving as a member of the Fuel TV broadcast team covering UFC on FX 8.

“At some point, my skills will diminish and my athletic abilities will go down. And when they do, I’ll either join the NFL or fight Wanderlei Silva,” cracked Sonnen. “But at this point, I’m looking ahead and I don’t know what’s next.”

The rivalry between Sonnen and Silva has existed since the former made a number of inflammatory remarks aimed the Brazilian people years back while calling for a clash with middleweight champ Anderson Silva. In addition to the personal feelings involved, the pairing is interesting from a stylistic standpoint as well, pitting a grappler with Sonnen’s skill against one of the most feared strikers MMA has ever seen.

Sonnen is 27-13-1 in his career with notable wins over Yushin Okami, Nate Marquardt, Brian Stann, and Michael Bisping. Meanwhile, the 35-12-1 “Axe Murderer” has 25 knockouts to his credit including memorable finishes of Stann, Cung Le, and Quinton Jackson.

Chael is in such a strange spot right now. He’s too big a name to take on “up and comers” but he hasn’t earned a spot at the top guys in the division. He’s also expressed no interest in taking on Jones again and can’t or won’t make 185 again. So what do you do with a superstar that’s not in the title hunt?

Wandy is a perfect fight (for both of them). Lil Nog would be good, but only if he loses his next 1 or 2 so he’s out right now. Machida is at the top of the division and gains nothing by fighting Chael, same with Rashad. Hendo and Chael will most likely not fight unless it’s for the title. With Rampage gone, no one else in the LHW division has the star power to compete with Chael. I guess they could bring in 185ers for one offs, like a fight with Rich Franklin, or if a HW comes down, like Roy Nelson, but there aren’t a ton of options there either.

If the fight with Wandy doesn’t happen, who else is realistically available?